Jaigaon

Carol and Tim have opted to not travel this leg of the trip. Both are feeling a bit under the weather, and after our 8 hour drive to Jaigaon (Jaigon), I wish I would have stayed in Kalimpong with them! I don't really know how to describe the driving here except to say that they use the entire road...everyone...people on foot, bicycles, animals, trucks, cars...everyone in both directions is weaving to avoid potholes and stopping abruptly to avoid rear ending a truck that has no tail lights or animals that are meandering across the road. By the time we arrived in Jaigon, we all felt like we had internal injuries from the drive.

Hotel check in.

The main entrance to Bhutan is through Jaigaon. Bhutan is a tiny, remote, impoverished country sandwiched between Indian and China. It was cut off for centuries from the outside world and only began to open up to outsiders in the 1970's. It is fiercely Buddhist and resistant to Christianity. Nandu wanted us to come here and visit a Christian training center as well as to see where some of the orphaned children come from.

And yes, those are cows.

The cow is considered sacred in the Hindu religion—and not just the cow itself but everything that come out of it is sacred as well. Milk, urine, curds, dung and butter from cows, Hindus believe, will cleanse the body and purify the soul. Even the dust of footprints of cows has religious meaning. Some of the phrases we Americans use like "Holy cow" or "sacred cows" (something that is preserved at great length for no rational reason) would have their influence from here.

Hindus believe that each cow contains 330 million gods and goddesses. Krishna, the god of mercy and childhood, was a cowherder. At festivals honoring Krishna, priests shape cow dung into images of the god. 

We leave tomorrow to drive back to Kalimpong. The drive is only supposed to take 4 hours, of which I'm thankful. One week from today, God willing, (Big not little "G") we will be back in the U.S. This trip has been good, but I'm ready to be home.